CV-19 Grantmaking strategic planning analytics

Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania.

An atlas of COVID-19 era need and philanthropic response.

June, 2020.



This report provides strategic planning intelligence to philanthropies making placed-based investments in the wake of COVID-19. The goal is to understand where the supply of resources are aligned with the demand for those resources, and where they are not. Philanthropies can then use this intelligence to plan future investments.

This report is part of a larger effort to chronicle philanthropic efforts to battle COVID-19 in the Delaware Valley Region.

In between 2020-03-30 and 2020-05-08, organizations in Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania applied for 2218 grants, receiving 579 (26%). These grants totalled $495,690.

The organizational mission that saw the most funding in Philadelphia County, was Arts, Culture & Humanities, which received $94,650. 84% of Philadelphia County Census tracts applied for funding and 51% received grants.

The next section provides additional grantmaking analytics. Section 2 visualizes a series of strategic planning overlay maps intended to help philanthropies working in Philadelphia County identify areas where need currently outweighs grant resources. The remaining sections include additional analytics. Worth noting is the Employment section, which visualizes the geography of COVID-19-related unemployment.

1. Grantmaking

1.1 Which organizational missions received the most funding?

1.2 Where were grants applied for and received?

1.3 Where were grants applied for and received?

2. Strategic Planning Overlays

The goal of these map overlays is to help stakeholders understand if resources are being allocated where they are needed most. Philanthropies should consider targeting future investment in places where need exceeds grantmaking.

Housing instability and social vulnerability indices define the geography of need in Philadelphia County. Housing instability is a composite that describes the number of renters, the number of renters paying more than 30% of their income on rent (ie. ‘rent burdened’) and the current tract-level unemployment rate1.

Social vulnerability is a composite of rent burdened households, those that are single-parent, tract-level poverty rate, percent receiving SNAP benefits and percent without health insurance. Below, need and grantaking are visualized side-by-side and with cartographic overlays. Again, these overlays highlight areas where more investment may be needed.

These are relative measures for Philadelphia County only, which received $495,690 across 579 grants. In addition, grants have been georeferenced to the location of the grantee. This location may not reflect the grantee’s service area.

2.1. Housing instability & grantmaking maps

2.2 Housing instability & grantmaking overlay

Census tracts with lighter yellow, are those where relative housing instability is greater than relative grantmaking. Green tracts are those where housing instability and grantmaking are properly aligned. Tracts with darker shades of blue are those where there is more relative grantmaking than relative instability.

2.3 Social vulnerability & grantmaking maps

2.4 Social vulnerability & grantmaking overlay

Census tracts with lighter yellow, are those where relative social vulnerability is greater than relative grantmaking. Green tracts are those where social vulnerability and grantmaking are properly aligned. Tracts with darker shades of blue are those where there is more relative grantmaking than relative social vulnerability

3. Housing

With respect to housing in Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, the average tract-level median rent is $884.93. The average rate of owner occupied housing is 52%. In 53% of tracts, at least half of households are rent burdened.

The maps below provide a detailed look at housing in Philadelphia County.

3.1 Where do rent burdened households live?

Rent burdened households are those spending more than 30% of their income on housing. The map below visualizes percent rent burdened by tract.

3.2 Where are owner-occupied households concentrated?

3.3 How does rent vary across Philadelphia County?

3.4 Where do renters rely on alternative travel mode choices?

The map below visualizes the percent of renters with no vehicle.

3.5 Philadelphia County transit deserts

The map below visualizes the distance in miles from each tract to its nearest transit station.

4. Demographics

In Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, the average median household income is $47,226.65 and the average population density is 19,584 people per square mile. The mean poverty rate is 25%, with the highest poverty rate, areawide, being 82%.

Below a host of demographic-related maps are presented.

4.1 How does population density vary across Philadelphia County?

4.2 Median Household Income

4.3 Poverty-rate across Philadelphia County

4.4 Percent non-white households

4.5 Individuals aged 65+

4.6 Individuals aged under 18

4.7 Map of Distance to houses of worship

The map below visualizes the distance in miles from each tract to its nearest house of worship.

5. Employment

In this section, labor force participation is visualized along with recent changes that have resulted from COVID-19.

The average rate of individuals who have attained at least a high school degree in Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania is 84%. In 2015, the Census estimated that 727,819 individuals were employed, which represents 71% of adults. As of mid May, 2020, the estimated average tract-level unemployment rate was 11% meaning an estimated 73,062 fewer individuals were employed at that time.

Below the geography of COVID-19 unemployment is explored further.

5.1 Education attainment: High school degree and higher

5.2 Total labor force

5.3 Where do workers live by sector (2018)

Using Census LODES data, the below set of maps show where Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania workers in select sectors live.

5.4 Estimated unemployment by sector

Combining tract-level employment counts from Census LODES with tract-level unemployment estimates from the BLS, allows estimates for where employment-vulnerable workers live in Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania.

6. Food Insecurity

Moving on to food insecurity in Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, the average rate of households receiving food assistance is 26%. The average rate of households with children receiving food assistance area wide is 11%.

Below, food insecurity and food access in Philadelphia County is mapped.

6.1 Where do households receive food assistance?

6.2 Where do households with children receive food assistance?

6.3 Philadelphia County food deserts

The map below visualizes the rate of low income households who live more than 1/2 mile from a supermarket in urban areas and more than 10 miles in rural areas.

7. Child Welfare

In this section, child welfare indicators are presented.

7.1 Children under age 6

7.2 Access to childcare

The map below maps the distance in miles from each tract to its nearest childcare center.

8. Health

The average health insured rate for households in Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania is 99%. The average rate of disabled residents is 16%.

Several health-related indicators are mapped below.

8.1 Rate of health insured

8.2 Rate of disabled

8.3 Emergency health access

The map below maps the distance in miles from each Census tract to its nearest emergency care facility.

8.4 Access to urgent care

The map below measures distance in miles from each Census tract to its nearest urgent care facility.

This work was supported by a coalition philanthropic organizations in the Delaware Valley Region and created by the below entities.


  1. Bureau of Labor Statistics; Census LODES; created by applying Urban Institute neighborhood job loss estimates to Census LODES data. More information here